1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electric power tools. More particularly, the present invention relates to a jigsaw including a housing and a blade which projects downward from the front portion of the housing and reciprocates vertically for cutting workpieces.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical electric jigsaw includes a housing, a motor encased within the housing, a vertically oriented rod or blade holder shaft provided at the front of the housing and driven by the motor so as to make reciprocating motion, and a blade attached to the bottom end of the reciprocating rod via a coupler. Such a jigsaw further includes at the lower front end of the housing a front guard that covers the coupler without being in contact with the coupler. In addition, the front guard is adapted to be movable between a protective position for covering the coupler and an open position for exposing the coupler. To remove the blade from the holder shaft, the guard is moved to the open position to expose and permit manual access to the coupler.
In addition to the foregoing basic structure, certain jigsaws are provided with an illuminant or light source, such as a light-emitting diode or LED, disposed generally vertically downward to illuminate workpieces or mark-off lines scribed on the top surface of workpieces when workpieces are being cut in darkness or in low light conditions.
While the foregoing arrangement achieves its intended objective, it is not free from certain problems and inconveniences that reduce the utility of the device. For example, since the front coupler guard is adapted to move between the two positions, an illuminant cannot be installed in the guard. As a result, an illuminant such as an LED is in many cases disposed in the housing above the front guard. However, if an illuminant is disposed directly above the front guard, the light from the illuminant would be blocked by the coupler guard and not reach the workpiece. Accordingly, the housing must be specially redesigned, for example, to accommodate an illuminant above and forward of the front guard if the light from the illuminant is to reach the area of the workpiece in the proximity of the saw blade, thus increasing the housing size and the manufacturing costs of the entire tool.
An additional problem associated with this conventional arrangement is that by the provision of an illuminant above the front guard, the distance between the light source and the workpiece surface becomes greater, resulting in significant diffusion and scattering of light and thus reduction in the effect of illumination of the workpiece.